Agile Practice Guide

by Project Management Institute

Agile Practice Guide – First Edition has been developed as a resource to understand, evaluate, and use agile and hybrid agile approaches. This practice guide provides guidance on when, where, and how to apply agile approaches and provides practical tools for practitioners and organizations wanting to increase agility. This practice guide is aligned with other PMI standards, including A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition , and was developed as the result of collaboration between the Project Management Institute and the Agile Alliance.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Reference, Education, Professional Development, Technology

210 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Amin · Rating 1 out of 5]

سالها بود که کتابی با چنین کیفیت نازل در حوزه مدیریت نخوانده بودم! یعنی این سوال پیش می‌آید که قرار است چه آورده‌ای با مطالعه اثری که بصورت لیست‌وار مجموعه‌ای از بایدها و نبایدها را مطرح می‌کند نصیب فرد یا سازمانی شود. مساله اینجاست که فارغ از متود اصلی مورد بحث که واژه داغ این روزهای بازار کار و مدیریت است و شاید بتوان در متنی کوتاه هم بدان پرداخت٬ باقی ماجرا منوط به کسب تجربه و حدس و خطا و صحبت از این درس‌ها و تجربیات است. در این شرایط سوالی که پیش می‌آید این است که پس چطور باید درباره این مسائل تجربه محور صحبت کرد؟ یا اصلا می‌توان چیزی گفت که به درد دیگران بخورد؟

فکر می‌کنم به دو شکل می‌توان در این باره حرف زد. یا باید مثل ادعای این کتاب دستورالعملی نوشت که البته بر خلاف این کتاب بجای یک سری حرف کلی به طور دقیق و با جزییات کافی و مرحله به مرحله اصولی را مطرح کرد که شفاف باشند و به راحتی هم بتوانند با ابزارهای کافی مساله را بررسی کنند که در این صورت احتمالا از حوصله خواننده عادی هم خارج خواهد بود و بیشتر به درد تیم پیاده‌سازی می‌خورد. یا روش بهتر که در کتابهای مهم حوزه مدیریت هم می‌بینیم٬ روشی است که بسیار تکیه بر مطالعات موردی و داستان‌سرایی و بیان مثال‌های متعدد می‌کند تا ذهن خواننده را متوجه شرایطی بکند که هم ملموس‌تراند و هم احتمال بیشتری دارد که در وضعیتی شبیه‌ تر به این مثالها قرار گرفته باشند. و این دو شکل هیچ‌کدام در این کتاب یافت نمی‌شوند و صرفا با کلی‌گویی‌هایی مواجه هستیم که کل مطالبش را می‌توان در یکی دو صفحه خلاصه کرد و شاید بهترین بخش همان ارائه چارچوبی باشد که چهار متود مختلف و ترکیب آنها را بعنوان روشهای ممکن برای مدیریت پروژه مطرح میکند

[David Souza · Rating 2 out of 5]

It explains agile practices in a very superficial way so that it adds nothing. A person who would like to apply one of the practices would not be able to do so.

It is better to learn the methods in a specific book, for instance: "Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time".

[Katlyn Sons · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read the whole thing for class to it count's towards my fucking reading goal

[Jack Haefner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very happy with this Practice Guide. While it doesn't cover all the "how tos" for applying approaches across the predictive to agile continuum, it does provide a comprehensive strategic and operational understanding.

[Todd Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

PMI just doesn't get it. Read Ken Schwaber's book Agile Project Management with Scrum instead. I had to read this cover to cover (along with the latest PMBOK) as part of a contract that needed to align with both books. As a practitioner, I found the book useless.

[Mariyan Tashev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is more of a high-level overview. It's OK.
DNF at around 50%. Target was taking the exam.
Look elsewhere for an in-depth look at the topics.

[Bassam Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's one of the Project Managment Institute (PMI) Publications (published in 2017), which was launched to facilitate a mindset change in projects management preferenc approach, from more in depth  planed approach to "go with the flow" and adoptive one, by adopting "Agile Methodology", the book was released under the title: "Agile Practice Guide".

Agile mechanism was developed mainly in the 90s of the twinyth century by the software industry pioneers and influential indvidual and organisations, where by in the beginning of the new millennium its manifesto was released, emphasising on the emerging business concepts and preferences; as follows:

"Agile Manifesto:
- Individual & Interactions over Process & Tools.
- Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation.
- Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation.
- Responding to Change over Following a Plan."

The book take on the task of introducing the idea of Agile and the concepts & needs behind it, elaborate on its diversiful implementations and applications, to conclude with descriptive guidance of how to lead  and manage an organisational and individual change to agile  mindset, after answering the following questions: Why its needed? Is it suitably for the organisation industry? & What is the added value gained from implementing Agile?

Moreover it became more important when PMI officially adopted & implemented agile as part of its culture, literature, certification process (PMBOK 6) and legacy, since the second half of 2018.

The content is purely technical which is targeting professional project managers/project Managment organisations, or those whom seeking a career in project managment, in addition it is a prerequisite learning material to those whom seeking to be certified as "PMP" or "PMI-ACP".

Moreover Agile methodology in reality is more suitable for software, information, manifucturing and technological industries to mention a few (which are the focus of the economical development and progress in nowadays), while it is less useful in fields of building construction and infrastructure projects, (despite having some agile applications which can be usful if applied partially and in specific stages of projects only) due to the industry characteristics.

In my opinion "Agile" is pure reflection of neolebral capitalism (economical & Ideological) values (customer satisfaction, reducing manpower, lack of proper planning "short term thinking - go with the flow", quick deliverables for the consumer instant consumption,...etc.) which characterise the the era that we live in "liquid modernity".

Advise it to Professional Project Managers whom wants to explore new methods & approaches.

[Amir · Rating 3 out of 5]

مناسب برای ورود یا گذر از PMBOK به Agile.
انتظار مطلب خارق العاده نداشته باشید. کتابهای بهتری وجود دارند که با جزئیات به معرفی روشهای و ابزارها مرتبط با Agile میپردازند.
اما به نظر به عنوان اولین سعی از موسسه PMI که سالهاست استاندارد مدیریت پروژه های Predictive را بسط میدهد، بد نبود.

[Eva · Rating 1 out of 5]

Важно: я читала русское издание.
167 страниц всего.
115 по теме, где каждый раздел писал отдельно назначенный сотрудник. Отсюда несовпадение терминов, огромное количество воды и повторяющего материала.
Остальное: ссылки, перечень участников (около трех страниц, я есть даже КОМИТЕТ по проверке правильности перевода из пяти человек), перечень технического персонала, указатель и т.д.
Конкретика в ПРАКТИЧЕСКОМ РУКОВОДСТВЕ отсутствует совершенно. Прямо её нет. Некоторые предложения и абзацы напечатаны без пробелов. Практически каждая страница наполовину или на треть пустая, разорваны даже списки, т.е. три буллета на одной странице, потом пустая половина, и еще три-четыре на другой (как жаль, что не вставить фотки).
Российское издание стоит от 1800 до 2600 руб. Это самая дорогая бизнес-книга, которую я встречала.
Про перевод: это такой ужас, что я даже написала жалобу в издательство – «на рынке с 1996 года» - что такой отвратительной работы я еще не видела, Гугл бы справился лучше в сотни раз. Я написала им много примеров от «каденс» (тут они имеют в виду частоту итераций, хотя в русском языке этот термин исключительно спортивный и означает частоту касания ноги бегуна о землю во время бега) до «картирование» (имелся в виду соответствия областей знания PMI и Agile, i.e. map up). Утомляет неимоверное количество англицизмов типа «акцептовать», «фреймворк» и т.д. и еще было интересное слово «интрАпренерский» - не нашла такого в русском.
В глоссарии есть расшифровка аббревиатур, которая выглядит так: аббревиатура на английском – перевод на русский. Никто не догадался сначала расшифровать на английском.
Я негодую так, что у меня нет сил написать чёткий и структурированный отзыв.
и на этой книге стоят логотипы PMI и Agile Alliance.

У меня всё.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most readable of the PMI publications, and it's noted right in the introduction. The mission here is a little different than some of the other books. I got through this incredibly quickly, and could read for long sections without the need to stop as I normally do with PMI publications. However, don't expect in depth knowledge of even a small number of the many different Agile methods. This isn't a book on Scrum, or Extreme Coding, or any of the other methods. Mostly, they're looking at how to look at a project and see if it's suitable for an agile method, and whether the organization is a good fit for Agile methods. Did gain some insights I found helpful about choices a prior company was making a few years back. That alone was worth the price of the book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book pretty skeptical. I've done work over the years to align and use hybrid processes but it's always felt like PMI just hasn't kept up and remains stuck in waterfall. While this was very focused on Agile, hence the "Agile Practice Guide" name, I felt like it did a serviceable job finding the corollary for the PMI practice area. I loved the section on the PMO and the discussion of the different types of Agile one could perform. Although this was only meant as a primer and there's much more to learn on each section, I felt like this was a valuable read that I could give to my execs and my coaches to help them understand a bit more easily the direction that we are heading.

[Ben Franklin · Rating 2 out of 5]

As far as I’m concerned, Agile project management practices is the primary reason so many software products are glitchy and buggy and not user friendly…. “Get something that works and fix all the problems later” is no way to successfully launch or manage anything, but Agile is the new shiny thing for industry.

[Shenila Makhani · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good book for the beginners who are studying pmbok and along with studying agile concepts and mapping them with PMBOK concepts and artifacts. It is simple and easy to understand. In my opinion addition of more examples will add value to it.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok for an overview but limited in actual content and details

[Glenn Hyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 167 page guide gives you the basics about agile project management. It doesn't go into a whole lot of detail, but it points you in the right direction. It's a good introduction.

[Patricia Chen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book doesn’t have a very thorough explanation about Agile practices. It’s easy to read but I don’t think I learned anything.

[Emily]

This counts, right? 🤓

[Ana Claudia Santos-Cortez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, straightforward, well explained, and supported by diagrams that ease the user experience. A good job from PMI and Agile Alliance producing a practical guide that highlights the main characteristics of adaptive frameworks (agile) when compared to predictive ones (waterfall).
Should not be considered the single source of truth as one benefits a lot from complementary reading from other sources (don’t worry! Sources are quoted in its bibliography) but overall a very helpful guide for people studying for the PMI-ACP exam.

[Lilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great start to organize the disciplines and practices that have become known as "Agile." The organization of the book is challenging for me - it does not seem to be organized in a logical manner. It's not a comprehensive guide in any means, and it does not claim to be - which is why I didn't give it a lower rating. I would recommend Mike Griffiths book for a more comprehensive Agile guide.

[Nauman Faridi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gives a reasonably good overview of the Agile practices and does a better job in comparing conventional processes/knowledge areas with these practices. Of course it is a must read if you plan to appear in PMI-ACP.

[Jeff Billark · Rating 3 out of 5]

a real page turner

[Suzie Brazda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t really say it was a page turner

[Glenton Jelbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed it. It's a sane view on Agile Project Management.

What I liked: It was a big tent kind of view. It presented a wide range of templates and philosophies on Agile, so there was a lot to choose from.

I thought it could be improved because it was too inclusive and therefore lacked an easy "how to".

They make the point that there are numerous ways to do this, and that the company culture is an overwhelming factor in achieving successful agile PM. But it seems like they didn't want to offend certain vocal practitioners, so they tried to incorporate lots of views and not be too prescriptive.

But I think for a practice guide to work well, they could easily have caveats about "many ways to do this", but here's a step-by-step guide you can use or adapt. And then give a more prescriptive formulation. Maybe even do a case study or show several versions where you select the version depending on your circumstances.

I get that Agile is trying to get away from some of these prescriptive / formulaic methods, and in fairness, but it feels like remained too high level.

Nonetheless, it's a great read for anyone thinking of running a complex project and contemplating exploring Agile methodologies further.

[Ahmed Alkatheeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives an overview of practicing Agile within the team and organization. It explains in high-level different Agile approaches and common practices in terms of delivering in an Agile Environment like Retrospectives, Backlog Preparation, Backlog Refinement, Daily Standup, Demonstrations, Iteration-based Agile Planning (Sprint Planning).

There are reference parts at the end of the book like Appendixes and Glossary. Overall, it's a good start for anyone who wants to know about Agile implementation either within the teams or organizations.

[Abby Epplett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another book from my company's digital library.

This comprehensive guide gives an overview of using agile as a project manager. The graphs and charts in the book were helpful, as were the sections for references, bibliography, and glossary. I used a screen reader for parts of book, and the format was perfect for the screen reader.

My only complaint is that these types of books are inevitably very dull.

[TheReadingSpot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide to learn about Agile overall. Really thorough and perhaps a little bit advanced at some points.

I liked the description of all the different frameworks and the enterprise-level scalable frameworks at the end of the book, together with tailoring guidelines and suggestions and a self-assesment questionaire for tailoring.

Maybe a little bit too much information if one is preparing for the Agile part of the PMP certification, but good guide overall.

[Mingmei Tsui · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "Agile Practice Guide" is like your buddy when it comes to getting Agile right. It has some solid, straight-to-the-point advice and it's filled with real-life examples that help make things clear. There are parts where it gets a bit jargony, so complete beginners might find it tough. But if you're trying to get your team into Agile, this book is a big help. So, I'd say give it a read if you're switching to Agile. It's worth it.

[Ameed El-Ghoul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very light read about Agile practice. This is not intended to be in depth body of knowledge, but a light read to introduce you and give you a good idea bout the Agile mindset. If you took it as it was intended you will like it. If you are looking for an in depth guide, this book is not for you. I like it.

[Alisha Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, for a textbook type book. Read it all in one sitting (minus a snack break). I wanted more detail at some points, & some examples, but for whatever reason neither the PMBOK or this book are formatted like that. Just a reference guide to grasp the processes & tools. Will be keeping on my bookshelf to refer back to.

[Andrew Breza · Rating 1 out of 5]

The target audience of this book is unclear. People who don't have experience with Agile methods will be deeply confused by the use of insider terms like "timeboxing" without definitions. People with prior knowledge of the topic will find themselves bored by the dull treatment of what should be an engaging and interesting topic.